Quentin Tarantino Suing Gawker Over Leaked Script

When the script for Hateful Eight was leaked, director Quentin Tarantino surprised everyone by abruptly abandoning what would have been his next film. Now, he’s taking it a step further with a copyright lawsuit against Gawker Media, who he claims “crossed a journalistic line by promoting itself to the public as the first source to read the entire Screenplay illegally.”

After the leak, the Gawker blog Defamer linked to the 146-page script in a post by site editor Lacy Donahue, facilitating the speed at which it spread across the Internet. (Interestingly, the previous Defamer editor, Beejoli Shah, once wrote a post about a sexual encounter with Tarantino.) The complaint emphasizes the fact that the download was offered on the Gawker website, and wasn’t even distanced by a third-party link.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles by attorneys Martin Singer and Evan Spiegel, and alleges that Gawker has refused to take the post down despite numerous requests. The lawsuit seeks damages of at least $1 million.